Sir, - In recent years much publicity has been given to the minority of Cubans who wish to leave the country, so it must come as a great shock to many people that Miguel Gonzales, a hotel worker, would rather take his son home to Cuba than enjoy the riches on offer to stay in the US.
I have recently returned from working as a chiropractor in a Cuban hospital and there is no doubt Cuba has much to teach the rest of the world about health and education. From being a rundown Third World Latin American country in 1959, it is now assessed by UNESCO as having the highest literacy rates in the Americas. All of its children are receiving education and three out of five adult citizens are enrolled in formal part-time study of some kind. Cuba has more doctors and teachers per head of population than any country in the world. Its people have free access to healthcare and dentistry; day care is available for all working families. Doctors and teachers do not earn much, but they are very proud of the service they provide.
These remarkable achievements are being vigorously defended by the Cuban Government and its 11 million people despite the efforts of the United States over the past 40 years to undermine them with its illegal blockade and political posturing. It makes me laugh how politicians focus on the so-called civil rights abuses of a small nation trying to protect its sovereignty and welfare system from the most powerful country in the world. These same politicians never concern themselves about the civil rights of individuals in countries with no access to health care or education which, after all, is what makes a person more confident, more resourceful and much more effective at resisting oppression. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Richard Lanigan, Clontarf Road, Dublin 3.